California has burned the dubious mark of 1 million acres as crews issue new evacuation orders for San Bernardino County residents living near the coast. Line fire.
Recently, Cal Fire resources have been focused on several incidents in Southern California. Crews simultaneously fought to control three infernos: bridge, line and airport fires. In all incidents, crews have established containment lines around most perimeters. The line fire remains the least controlled, with firefighters controlling 80% of the fire.
Although they strained Southern California’s resources, the wildfires only accounted for about 12% of the acres burned across the state.
So far in 2024, firefighters have responded to 6,500 wildfires, destroying 1,433 structures and damaging another 254. The biggest fire of this year, the Park fireburned 429,603 acres and destroyed 709 buildings in Butte and Tehama Counties near Chico and Paradise. It caused more destruction than all the fires that occurred in 2023.
Although there were still almost 1,000 wildfires in 2023, it was a relatively mild year with 332,822 hectares burned. The 2022 fire season recorded similar numbers, with almost 7,500 incidents burning 331,358 hectares.
Compared to the previous two years, 2024 appears abnormally destructive. However, it falls within Cal Fire’s five-year average of 1 million acres burned.
According to the agency’s database, 2020 and 2021 devastated California. Nearly 7 million hectares burned between the two years, and fires destroyed nearly 15,000 buildings.
The 2020 incidents accounted for approximately 60% of the damage, mainly due to the four complex fires sparks within days of each other. Each of the fires ranks among the 10 largest fires in California history, with the August Complex topping the list at just over 1 million acres.
